Leak prevention device for use on baby bottles and child drink cups

ABSTRACT

A leak prevention device for use on a baby bottle and child&#39;s drink cup, comprising a ring shaped form with a center hole and the entire form having a resilient rubber material disposed along the outer surface which when fitted over a baby bottle and child drink cup will prevent leaking by maintaining the beverage container at a permanent angle when tipped over.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a leak prevention device for use onbaby bottles and child drink cups. More particularly, the inventionrelates to a device which prevents liquid from leaking from a babybottle and child's drink cup by allowing the beverage container to bemaintained at a permanent angle when tipped over.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The need for baby bottles and child drink cups to maintain their liquidcontents exists to provide nutrients and satisfaction to the infant.

In the past, bottles and child drink cups which were designed to preventliquids from escaping were limited to cumbersome attachments in the lidsthemselves or by bottles designed not to leak but still allowed thefluid inside to escape over a period of time through the nipple and/ordrink spout causing not only waste of nutritious liquids, but stainingand discoloration of surface material beneath and surrounding the areawhere the bottle or drink cup had tipped over and was left to lie on itsside. Furthermore, when children are put to bed with a bottle or cup anddo not finish the liquid inside before falling asleep, the bottle or cupis left to tip over and remain on its side resulting in time consumingand inconvenient bedding changes in the middle of the night by theparent/caregiver, disrupted sleep patterns of both the parent and child,and the potential for skin rashes to develop where liquid that leakedfrom the bottle or cup came into contact with the child's skin surfaceand remained until the child woke from sleep.

Prior art leak prevention devices are limited to the manner in which thelid or nipple of the bottle is designed which is to prevent leaking ofliquid from a bottle or drink cup that is quickly returned to itsupright position by the physical action of the parent/caregiver andchild. However, as it is not possible for a parent/caregiver or child toconsistently return a bottle or drink cup to the upright positionquickly enough to prevent the liquid contents from leaking, thesedevices have not been completely effective. In addition, bottles anddrink cups that are designed to prevent leaking often require carefulcleaning with bleach or alternative chemical to remove bacteria, residueand prevent mold growth inside the bottle nipple, leak-proof apparatusor spout of the drink cup which if not done timely will result inextensive, tedious washing by the parent/caregiver, separation and/orloss of the leak proof apparatus or the need to discard the bottlenipple or drink cup leak proof apparatus due to mold or residue unableto be removed by cleaning.

In these respects, the leak prevention device according to the presentinvention substantially departs from the conventional concepts anddesigns of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatusprimarily developed for the purpose of providing a device which whenattached to a baby bottle and child's drink cup will effectively preventleaking of its liquid contents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types ofleak proof baby bottles and child drink cups now present in the priorart, the present invention provides a new, simplified leak preventiondevice which can be utilized for providing leak prevention for babybottles and child drink cups.

The general purpose of the present invention, which will be describedsubsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and simplified leakprevention device which has none of the disadvantages of the prior art.To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a ring shaped,circular device including a uniformly creviced edge along its perimeterand a smaller circular center opening for use as an attachment to a babybottle and/or child's drink cup. A generally resilient rubber materialis disposed along the entire outer surface thereby allowing for a rigidflexibility for fitting the device securely onto the baby bottle andchild drink cup which when positioned between the top and bottom of thebaby bottle and child drink cup will effectively prevent leakage byallowing the beverage container to be maintained at a permanent anglewhen tipped over.

There has thus been outlined the more important features of the presentinvention in order that the detailed description that follows may bemore fully understood. There are additional features of the inventionthat will be described hereinafter and which will form the subjectmatter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of the construction set forthin the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Theinvention is capable of other embodiments and it is to be understoodthat the phraseology terminology employed herein are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as thebasis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the purposeof the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims beregarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they donot depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new andsimplified leak prevention device which has none of the disadvantages ofthe leak proof baby bottles and child drink cups mentioned heretoforeand has, as well, novel features that result in a unique, simple leakprevention device which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested,or implied by any of the prior art leak prevention apparatuses eitheralone or in combination thereof.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide a new,simplified leak prevention device which may be easily and efficientlymanufactured and marketed.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide a new,simplified leak prevention device which can be easily cleaned andmaintained,

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new,simplified leak prevention device which is universal in nature insofaras it can be used on a variety of baby bottles and child drink cups onthe market currently as well as those purchased in previous years by theconsumer.

An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new andsimplified leak prevention device for use on baby bottles and childdrink cups which is susceptible to a low cost of manufacture with regardto both materials and labor and which accordingly is then susceptible tolow prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a leakprevention device economically available to the buying public.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new,simplified leak prevention device, that when fitted over a baby bottleand child's drink cup can prevent the escape of liquid contained thereinby permanently maintaining the container at an angle when tipped over.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, the inventionmay be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of theinvention, limited only by the scope of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those setforth above will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description thereof. Such description makes referenceto the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the leakprevention device constructed in accordance with the principles of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a new leak prevention device in useaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular, to FIGS. 1 and 2thereof, the preferred embodiment of the new leak prevention deviceembodying the principles and concepts of the present invention andgenerally designated by the reference number will be described.

More specifically, it will be noted in FIGS. 1 and 2 that the devicerelates to a ring shaped structure allowing for the device to be placedcentrally around a baby bottle and child's drink cup in order to preventthe beverage container from leaking its fluid contents when tipped over.

As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the leak prevention device 10 comprises aring shaped structure including a central opening 14, a plurality ofsemi-circular sections 12, and a resilient surface material 16. Theresilient surface material 16 of the leak prevention device 10 ispreferably constructed of synthetic material which is resilient andpossesses water repellent properties. It is contemplated that thesurface material 16 which is employed in the construction of the device10 be rigid so that the device will support a baby bottle and child'sdrink cup at an angle when tipped over. It is further contemplated thatthe surface material 16 be rigid in nature so that the device is unableto be punctured or torn by an infant, toddler or child.

In use in FIG. 2, the leak prevention device 10 is positioned around achild's bottle 18 via passage of the bottle 18 through the centralopening 14 of the leak prevention device 10. As such, the child's bottle18 remains at an angle when tipped over, preventing the leaking of itsfluid contents.

Other optional embodiments of the invention include that the leakprevention device may take the form where one or more shapes, includingtriangular and octagonal, define the outer edge for aesthetic purposes.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention toinclude variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and mannerof operation, assembly and use are deemed readily apparent and obviousto one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to thoseillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification areintended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to falling within the scope of theinvention.

1) A device for use on a baby bottle, child's drink cup and beveragecontainer for preventing the liquid from leaking out by maintaining thebeverage container at a permanent angle when tipped over; said devicecomprising: a ring structure, said ring structure comprising a centralopening, and a plurality of spaced apart semi-circular sections alongits perimeter. 2) A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said devicecomprises a central opening which allows for placement of the deviceonto a baby bottle, child's drink cup and beverage container. 3) Adevice as claimed in claim 1 wherein said device comprises plurality ofspaced apart semi-circular sections which prevent the baby bottle,child's drink cup and beverage container from rolling away from theuser's grasp. 4) A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said devicecomprises a resilient surface material that is rigid in nature so as toprevent puncturing and tearing by the user.